Hey, South Mississippians! Who wants to be a juror in the Rigsbyvs. State Farm case?

Before raising your hand, ask yourself these follow-upquestions:

• How do you think insurers handled things after Katrina? Whatabout FEMA: Do you think they are trustworthy? How about insuranceadjusters: honest or dishonest?
• Did you sue an insurance company after Katrina? What about yourAunt Hilda?
• Have you ever been dropped by your insurance company?
• Ever hear of the Risgby sisters? What did you read in thepapers or see on the television about this case?

The preceding interrogatories (that's courtroom speak forquestions) were brought to you by State Farm. And if you get thatlucky jury-duty notice in the mail, the insurer wants you to answerwhat is called a “supplemental jury questionnaire” (SJP). They'lleven pay for the postage to and from your home.

I took the liberty of shortening the queries, but according tocourt documents, State Farm is asking a judge to approve thequestionnaire in order to “weed out by stipulation those respondingwith answers requiring automatic dismissal for cause.”

It's not outlandish. Numerous courts have used an SJP to screenpotential jurors, State Farm says.

The insurer wants to use the SJP because it says residents ofthe Gulf Coast have been left “with experiences and/or attitudesthat may make it hard for them to be completely fair to the partiesinvolved in this dispute.”

The dispute: Whistleblowers Coriand Kerri Rigsby—former independent claims adjusters—fileda well-publicized False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuit against StateFarm in April 2006. The sisters claim the insurer doctoredengineering reports after Katrina so it could allegedly send lossesto the National Flood Insurance Program.

The years following the lawsuit filing are marked with nationalprint and broadcast news; public outrage; the demise of aonce-prominent attorney (DickieScruggs); the death of the presiding judge; and countlesspre-trial motions to dismiss the case, limit its scope anddisqualify potential witnesses.

Finally, a trial date was set for March 25, 2013.

But who is going to be able to sit on the jury to hear thiscase? Are you out if you got dropped by your insurer or if youfiled a lawsuit against it?

If so, we can basically put a big “X” on anyone from Hancock,Harrison, Jackson, Pearl River, Stone and George counties. Thenonrenewal notices after Katrina traveled up the state higher thanthat, I know. I'm assuming Katrina lawsuits were likewise notcontained to the state's southernmost counties.

Are you disqualified if you saw the “20/20” report on ABC Newswith the Rigsbys after Katrina? Or if you followed the downfall ofpseudo-celebrity Scruggs, which consistently re-energized thementioning of the Rigsby case?

“Understanding whether experiences or attitudes about insurancecompanies influence jurors' [abilities] to be completely fair isessential for State Farm to get a fair trial.” That's what StateFarm says.

Seems to me there will be a heck of a lot of tainted jurors toweed from the pool with or without an SJP—which, predictably, theRigsby sisters oppose.